Third-party vendors typically provide extensibility for their software through plug-ins including Dynamic Link Libraries (DLL). A DLL is a small application, or sometimes a group of small applications, that can be called on by a larger application to provide a service or set of instructions. A DLL can reside within a WINDOWS operating system itself or within WINDOWS applications. A DLL can be utilized to control various functions within a user computer such as controlling a color management conversion engine.
In conventional third-party extensible software, third-party vendors were either allowed full access to core system functionalities, or were denied any privileges to modify system behavior. However, giving total extension ability to a third-party poses a potential security risk due to an increased risk that an attack to a user's operating system could occur.